Warning-signal



Patented Nov. 1, 1921.

E. AUFIERO.

WARNING SIGNAL.

k N n-I 13 APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30, I9l8.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WARNING-SIGNAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1, 1921.

Application filed March 30, 1918. Serial No. 225,673.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMANUEL Aurrnno, a citizen of the United States,-and a resident of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in lVarningSignals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to warning signals of the kind almost universally employed in motor vehicles and generically designated as mechanical horns.

Such horns consist essentially of a metallic diaphragm and mechanical means, either hand or power operated, for positively vibrating the diaphragm to produce the desired signal.

The horn of the present application is of the hand operated type and the primary ob-' ject of the invention is to provide an operating mechanism which shall, without too great manufacturing cost, be thoroughly durable and capable of withstanding the rough usage to which such horns are put, particularly when applied to motor trucks and other commercial vehicles.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide a vibrating mechanism for the horn in which the parts chiefly subject to wear, namely, the cam or serrated disk on the drivphragm, can be relatively adjusted from without the horn casing and through a wide range, so that the horn may be maintained in condition for eflicient operation for a long period of use.

A further object of the invention is to provide an adjusting means for the parts em bodying a thrust bearing of simple design and in which the bearing piece or abutment member for the shaft may be readily removed and replaced without dismantling the horn.

My improved horn also embodies other improvements in detail which will be hereinafter pointed'out.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of the horn which has been found highly satisfactory in practice, and in said drawings- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the horn casing showing the operating mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section in front of the flywheel of the main power shaft but mg shaft and the wear piece on the dia showing also a and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the broken line 3-3 of F ig; 2.

Referring to the drawings, 5 indicates the horn casing,- here shown as of the usual cyportion of the cam wheel;

- lindrical shape and with the flaring mouth to which the diaphragm 6 is attached by the front piece l carrying the usual amplifier or projector. The diaphragm is provided at its center with awear piece 7 whose pointed in ner end is engaged by the cam wheel 8 on the end of the shaft 9 supported longitudinally in the casing at one side of the center, as indicated in Fig. 2.

As shown, the cam 8 consists of a disk having teeth formed on its face around its periphery, preferably by stamping between suitable dies, although the teeth may obviously be otherwise formed, if desired.

The shaft 9 is sufficiently out of line with the wear piece for the teeth of the cam to en gage the pointed end of the wear piece. The shaft is preferably supported just back of the cam by means of a frame plate or disk 13 filling the casing and supported on three rods 14. which project longitudinally of the casing from a back plate 12. The back plate 12 forms a reinforcement for the thin sheet metal end wall of the casing and also provides a support or bearing for the rear end of the shaft 9. The rods 14 are screwed into the plate 12 and are reduced at their front ends, as indicated at 15, to provide shoulders against which the plate 13 is clamped by suitable nuts, the two plates and the-rods forming a rigid interior frame for supporting the operating mechanism. The two lower rods 14 are longer than the upper rod, so that their rear ends project through the wall of the casing for the attachment of the bracket 24 by means of which the horn is attached to the vehicle. The attaching nuts for the bracket also serve to clamp the disk 12 rigidly in place in the horn casing. The frame is also held in place in the casing by means of the oil nipple 25 which is threaded through the top wall of the easing into the edge of the disk 13, the bore of the nipple registering with the radial hole or passage in the disk leading to the shaft bearing, as shown in Fig. 1.

The shaft 9 is operated from a rack bar 16 projecting through the top of the casing and guided for vertical movement in the casing by means of a channel piece 23 which incloses the rack bar and is attached to the face of the plate 12, the side of the channel being cut away at the point where the teeth of the rack mesh with the teeth of a driving pinion 22 attached to a shaft supported between the plates 12 and 13 in parallelism with the shaft 9. The channel piece 23 also forms a housing for a spring 17 inclosed in the channel beneath the end of the rack bar and serving to normally maintain the rack bar elevated to its full extent, with the teeth at the end of the rack in engagement with the pinion. The rack teeth. are not cut all the way to the end of the bar, so that the uncut portion acts as a stop which cannot pass the teeth of the pinion.

The rotation of the pinion 22 is communicated to the shaft 9 through a ratchet 20 attached to the shaft of the pinion and engaged by pawls 21 carried by a gear 18 loose on the shaft between the ratchet and the pinion and meshing with teeth out in the shaft 9. The pawls 21 attached to the gear 18 in suitable pins on which are sup ported a series of rings or disks 19 to add to the weight of the gear so that it will act as a flywheel overrunning the ratchet 20 on the return stroke of the rack 16 under the influence of the spring, thereby maintaining the shaft 9 and cam 8 in motion after the positive driving action has ceased. The intermediate shaft between the rack 16 and the shaft 9 and its connections serve as a multiplying gear for imparting to the cam a rapid and prolonged rotation on a single reciprocation of the rack.

The shaft 9 is mounted for adjustment toward and from the wear piece by means of a bearing piece 10 surrounding the end of the shaft and threaded into the disk 12 from without the casing, the end of the piece 10 being slotted to permit its adjustment with an ordinary screw driver. The shaft 9 is held in the piece 10 against independent longitudinal movement by means of a key 11 whose inner edge is shaped to fit a groove formed in the shaft adjacent its end When dropped into the groove through a slot in the wall of the bearing 10, as shown in Figs. 1 and 8, the key 11 serving as a thrust bearing for the'shaft 9, as will be obvious.

After the horn is assembled its sound may be tried and its tone adjusted by simply screwing the bearinglO in or out until the desired pitch is obtained. The lock nut on the bearing 10 will then be screwed up to hold the shaft at the desired position of adjustment which may be varied from time to time, as the engaging faces of the cam and wear piece are worn.

To permit the ready replacement of the thrust bearing key 11 the rear face of the cam 8 should be sufliciently spaced from the disk 13 for the bearing 10 to be screwed out far enough to expose the slot in the bearing through which the key is dropped.

I have shown the oil passage in the disk 13 as leading only to the shaft 9 which, due to its high speed, requires more frequent lubrication, but it will be obvious, of course, that an oil passage may also be provided leading to the other shaft and that similar passages may be provided in the rear plate 12. It will also be obvious that various other changes may be made in the details of construction within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a hand operated mechanical. horn the combination of a vibratory diaphragm, a cam for vibrating the diaphragm, 'a shaft for said cam, a transverse frame member at an appreciable distance from said cam for supporting said shaft, and an adjustable thrust bearing for said shaft comprising an inclosing sleeve, and a replaceable key for holding said sleeve in fixed longitudinal relation with said shaft, the longitudinal freedom of movement of said shaft being sufficient to permit replacement of said key from the exterior of the horn.

2. In a mechanical horn, the combination of a casing, a vibratory diaphragm attached thereto, a cam for vibrating the diaphragm, said cam being mounted in the casing for rotation in a plane substantially parallel with the plane of the diaphragm, a shaft for the cam, a bearing for the shaft in the wall of the casing opposite the diaphragm, said bearing comprising an inclosing sleeve projecting to the exterior of said casing for adjustment toward and away from the diaphragm, a pair of adjacent annular shoulders on that portion of the shaft within said sleeve, and a replaceable key in fixed longitudinal relation with said sleeve adapted to lie between said shoulders and maintain the shaft longitudinally in a predetermined po sition.

3. In a mechanical horn, the combination ofavibratory diaphragm, a cam for vibrating the diaphragm, a shaft for the cam, a bearing for the shaft, means for adjusting the bearing toward and from the diaphragm, said bearing comprising a sleeve surrounding the end of the shaft, said shaft having a shoulder within the sleeve and a key held against longitudinal movement in the sleeve and engaging the shoulder of the shaft.

4. In a mechanical horn, the combination of a vibratory diaphragm, a cam for vibrating the diaphragm, a shaft for the cam, a bearing for the shaft, means for adjusting the bearing toward and from the diaphragm, said bearing comprising a sleeve surrounding the shaft and having a radial slot in one side, the end of the shaft within the sleeve being provided with an annular groove, and a key projecting through said radial slot into the groove of the shaft to thereby hold the latter against longitudi nal movement in either direction.

5. In a mechanical horn, the combination of a vibratory diaphragm, a cam for vibrating the diaphragm, a shaft for the cam, a bearing for the shaft, said bearing o0m prising a sleeve surrounding the shaft and having a radial slot in one side, the end of the shaft within the sleeve being provided with an annular groove, and a key projecting through said radial slot into the groove of the shaft to thereby hold the latter against longitudinal movement in either direction, a support in which said bearing is threaded for adjustment toward and from the diaphragm so positioned as to close the radial slot before the cam engages the diaphragm to thereby maintain the key against displacement.

6. In a mechanical horn, the combination of a casing, a diaphragm closing the open end of the casing, a frame within the casing comprising a pair of separate frame members fiXed in the casing in spaced relation between the diaphragm and the end wall of the casing, a pair of shafts supported in said frame members and extending substantially longitudinally of the casing, a cam on one of said shafts for vibrating said diaphragm, a flywheel 011 the other shaft and geared to the cam shaft, and a rack supported for reciprocation in said casing, and connections between the rack and flywheel for continuously revolving the latter in one direction upon a reciprocatory movement of the rack.

7. In a mechanical horn, the combination of a cylindrical casing, a frame within the casing comprising a pair of transverse members, means for maintaining the said members in spaced relation within the casing comprising shoulder bolts between said transverse members with the ends of the bolts projecting through the transverse wall of the casing and clamped thereto, thereby securing the entire mechanism of the horn in place and constituting external means for tightening said mechanism in the operative position, mechanism for vibrating the diaphragm supported by said frame members, and a supporting bracket for the horn at tached to the projecting ends of said bolts.

8. In a mechanical horn, the combination of a diaphragm, a support therefor, a cam mounted in said support and operatively engaging the diaphragm to vibrate the same, and means for rotating the cam com prising a gear attached to the cam, a second gear of greater diameter than the first gear and meshing with the first gear for driving the same, a flywheel attached to said second gear, and means comprising a re ciprocatin'g part and a one-way clutch be tween said part and said second gear for driving the latter.

- 9. In a mechanical horn, the combination of a casing, a diaphragm attached thereto, a cam in the casing for vibrating the dia phragm, a shaft on which said cam is mounted and means for driving said shaft comprising a second shaft geared to said cam shaft to drive the latter at a greater speed, a flywheel carried by said second shaft and rotating with the driving gear thereon, a reciprocating driving member for said second shaft, and a one-way clutch connection between said member and the driving gear.

10. In a mechanical horn, the combination of a casing, a diaphragm attached thereto, a cam in the casing for vibrating the diaphragm, a shaft supporting said cam for rotation in a plane parallel with the plane of the diaphragm, a second shaft adjacent the first-mentioned shaft, a gear loose on said second shaft having driving engagement with the cam shaft to drive the latter at a much increased speed, a flywheel attached to said gear, a oneway clutch connection between said second shaft and said gear, and a reciprocating cap geared to said second shaft for oscillating the latter.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 26th day of March, 1918.

EMANUEL AUFIERO. 

